I was not crazy
about the debut season of “American Horror Story,” perhaps because I find ghost
stories to be somewhat tiresome. Although there are elements of American Horror
Story: Asylum” which I found less enjoyable than others, I found the intensity
level and the mysteries far more compelling this time around. There are many
elements or horror being utilized in this season, with a pilot that combines an
alien abduction and a bloody serial killer into the storyline, with demonic
possession and mad-scientist experiments to be folded into the fray as well.

While the main
portion of the initial season of “American Horror Story” took place in the
present with revealing flashbacks mixed in, “Asylum” places the majority of action
in the past with the occasional flash-forward to frame the storyline. We open
with a bookend present day segment in which a couple breaks into the abandoned
mental institution for kinky sex and thrills, only to discover there remains
something deadly within the hospital walls. The remainder of the storyline
takes us back to the period in the early 1960s when an infamous serial killer
was brought into the hospital for evaluation.

Comedy Central
has taken over the task of broadcasting the latest incarnation of celebrity roasts, first made famous by
Dean Martin and NBC in the 1970s. Celebrity roasts have become a tradition in
entertainment, allowing us to see famous people elevated and teased in the oft
alcohol-fueled comedy show. This six-disc set includes twelve of the most
iconic roasts, featuring a historic collection of comedians and performers who
join Martin in an evening of laughter and lush behavior.

Nobody knew how to
drink like Dean Martin, no doubt the greatest source of humor for the first
celebrity roasts in 1973. Even when Martin is the host and not being roasted,
there are plenty of excuses for the guests to poke fun at the excessive alcohol
consumption by Dino. Created as a sort-of spin-off in the final season of “The
Dean Martin Show,” the celebrity roasts became a regular special that Martin
hosted until 1984, making a total of 54 roasts.

It is completely
unfair to make even the slightest comparison of “In the Flesh” to “The Walking
Dead,” although it is inevitable that this association will be made between the
two zombie television events. For one thing, “In the Flesh” is not a
post-apocalyptic storyline. We join the story after civilization has recovered
almost entirely, and it instead becomes a story about integration and
acceptance. The horror elements are all but removed and zombies instead become
a symbol for diversity and a metaphor for homosexuality.

The main
narrative decision to remove the horror from this story is the choice to make
the protagonist a zombie, and to make those monsters nearly indistinguishable
from humans. Normally this might add an element of fear, as if having them
hidden amongst us would make them dangerous in new ways, but not in this
miniseries. Instead they are integrated back into society in secret for their
own protection, with the humans being the monsters with the capacity for
destruction. My biggest issue with the zombies in Dominic Mitchell's “In the
Flesh” is that they don’t really resemble zombies in their monstrous form. The
storyline almost seems to insert the zombies simply because they are the
hot-ticket horror monster of the moment, although it seems to be a narrative
better suited for vampires or werewolves.

Silent Cry is far from a bad film. It is
a subtle suspense drama with a somewhat compelling mystery at the center of the
storyline. The acting is very good, the script is solid and the directing is
effective albeit a bit safe. The biggest problem with the film is the level of
expectation that the DVD cover art provides. The image brings to mind a horror
film, not a conspiracy mystery. And expectations can be sent even further in
the wrong direction if you are to read the blurbs for the film on the front and
back of the DVD case. Jay Slater of Darkside says that Silent Cry is a “brutal thriller with sucker-punch violence.” I
think it would be more accurate to describe this as an emotion-driven thriller
with mild suspenseful violence which would be tame by today’s television
standards.

Rooted in a
tradition of British melodrama, Silent Cry begins as a film about loss. Rachel
Towne (Emily Woof) is a single pregnant woman with all the optimism in the
world until she is told that her newborn baby has died overnight. Suspicious of
the hospital, doctors and everyone else involved, Rachel makes it her mission
to find out what really happened to her newborn baby. What could have easily
been dismissed as the grief of a mother is quickly confirmed when corrupt
police officer Dennis Betts (Clive Russell) threatens her safety.

The Coen
Brothers have had waves of popularity in the United States. Fargo
brought them critical acclaim, and O’
Brother, Where Art Thou? brought them box office success. After No Country For Old Men they also had a
rise in popularity, but the rest of the time their unique and creative style
sometimes goes unnoticed. Internationally, however, is a different story
entirely. They have been largely popular overseas even when failing by Hollywood’s standards, so
it should come as no surprise to see their debut feature adapted.

Directed by the
legendary Zhang Yimou, A Woman, a Gun and
a Noodle Shop is an undeniably successful adaptation of Blood Simple. The dark and seedy modern
noir has been changed to a period dark comedy, but essential moments of visual
filmmaking are imitated from the original in a clever homage. Although the
setting and tone is completely different, there are little winks and nods to
the source material. Both films are beautifully shot, though this remake has
the advantage of a polished look that comes from years of experience as a
filmmaker.

I sincerely feel
bad for M. Night Shyamalan, though the consistency with which he continues to
release films, despite his numerous critical and box-office failures of recent
past proves that he doesn’t necessarily need my pity. Still, it must be
difficult to go from being called the next Steven Spielberg to becoming the
next Uwe Boll. Even when his films are not terrible, they are light-years away
from the quality of his first few features.

With all that being said, After Earth is not as terrible as you
might imagine. It also isn’t exactly great, but I would place far more blame on
the Pinkett/Smith family for the biggest issues the film has. This became a
family project, and I think that paired with Shyamalan’s overly imaginative
science fiction narrative led to a sillier film than necessary. Tamed down a
small amount, this may have been a wonderfully adequate family film. Kids are
less inclined to notice awkward acting or absurd plot twists.

Many of the
horror icons from the 1980s have returned to the big screen in recent years,
though all have been reincarnations of the infamous monsters rather than a
continuation. Jason returned with a steroid-affected physique, Freddy lost his
humor and replaced it with stronger emphasis on pedophilia, and Leatherface
became more sympathetic with several films giving us unnecessary back-story.
The one villain from the 1980s to remain the same is Chucky, from casting to
driving force and creator Don Mancini. The only thing that has changed over the
years is the amount of damage done to his plastic face.

Since Child’s Play brought the ginger doll to
life for the first time in 1988, creator Don Mancini has remained involved as
screenwriter, and more recently as director. Mancini’s career has consisted of
little other than Chucky, with nearly all screenwriting credits belonging to
the demonic doll. It wasn’t until the last film, Seed of Chucky, that Mancini made his directorial debut. Curse of Chucky is his second film as a
director, and though he still shows an inability to retrieve believable
performances from any of his breathing actors, it is actually the screenwriting
and a lack of Chucky’s personality which drags this latest sequel into forgettable
territory.

I vaguely
remember watching the first Thankskilling
film in mild amusement. Puppet horror films have become a very small sub-genre,
with an obvious emphasis towards the comedic elements of felt blood and gore. Thankskilling 3 is far more than just a
horror movie, or a sequel, for that matter. For one thing, it is a sequel
called Thankskilling 3 with a
storyline about Thankskilling 2, which
was never actually made. The tag line for the film is “The first movie to skip
its own sequel.”

Funded through a
successful Kickstarter campaign, Thankskilling
3 is a bizarre labor of love with a bold comedic vision meant to shock and
baffle audiences in its irreverence. Turkie, the killer holiday bird from the
first film, is on a mission to find the only existing copy of Thankskilling 2, leading him to meet a
variety of new characters both human and puppets. Sex and violence with puppets
dominate the screen time, fueled by an electronic soundtrack by Zain Effendi.
Even more remarkable is the skill with which the film is photographed, making Thankskilling 3 far more gorgeous than a
film this disgusting has a right to be.